The New York Giants (6-1) and Seattle Seahawks (4-3) will square off on Sunday afternoon in a Week 8 matchup at Lumen Field in Seattle, Washington.
The Giants opened the week as 2.5-point road underdogs and they’ve seen that spread dip to +3.5 as of this writing.
With this matchup on tap, Giants Wire took the opportunity to hold a Q&A with Seahawks Wire managing editor Tim Weaver.
Geno Smith is a QB who has struggled to put it together throughout his career but is now playing at a high level. What's changed?
Weaver: The physical talent was always there with Geno Smith, who has a good-but-not-great arm. What’s really changed is his approach to the game — a very rare fundamental change in philosophy about how he attacks a defense.
Early in his career with the Jets he would rely too much on his arm talent and try to force things. These days he is far more careful with the ball and takes what the defense gives him. We expected a game-manager type of season, but Smith threw a curveball and started getting more aggressive as he got comfortable with the offense. So, he’s making very few mistakes and consistently throwing some incredibly accurate balls into tight windows — and those windows are getting further and further down the field as the season goes on. There are only a handful of guys who are throwing the ball better right now.
The Seahawks seem to have hit on Kenneth Walker. What makes the second-round RB so dynamic?
Kenneth Walker has two big things going for him. First, he has an absolutely-lethal jump cut move that makes a lot of guys miss. Once he gets into his space, he uses his explosiveness to blow away the rest of the defense. Walker has the fastest run for any ball carrier in the league this year — they need to get him at or near the line of scrimmage, because once he’s out in space it’s over.
Seattle struggles defensively, but especially against the run. Is there anything they can do to stop Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley?
The defense did have a brutal start to the season, especially against the run. However, the unit has actually been improving a lot over the last few weeks. Getting a few bad tacklers out of the lineup was part of it, but they’ve also made some schematic tweaks to fix their run fits. Of course, Saquon Barkley will be the best rusher they’ve faced this year, so it might be a different story. If they can contain Saquon then we’ll know that this defensive turnaround is legit and not a fluke.
Who are some under-the-radar players, both offensively and defensively, Giants fans should know about?
The rookies are all worth watching, as the Seahawks may have hit the best draft class of all-time.
Starting offensive tackles Charles Cross and Abe Lucas are both very impressive for rookies. Cornerback Tariq Woolen might be an All-Pro already, in the slot Coby Bryant is a fumble-forcing machine and Ken Walker looks like the best rookie running back since Adrian Peterson.
It’s mostly been these guys and Geno Smith’s improvement that have powered the Seahawks this year.
What would the loss of DK Metcalf change for Seattle offensively?
It would hurt, obviously. Tyler Lockett is Smith’s guy on third down, so if the Giants can manage that then Seattle will need somebody else to step up.
For starters, we’ll probably see more of the tight ends in the passing game. Smith is utilizing them a lot more than Russell Wilson did. Will Dissly, Colby Parkinson and Noah Fant may all see a few targets — especially in the red zone.
As far as the other receivers go, Marquise Goodwin stepped up last week but Dee Eskridge has been a disappointment. It’s tough to guess which, if any of them might take advantage of the opportunity.
What's your prediction for the Week 8 game?
I came into this season very down on this team, but they’ve far exceeded my expectations. As long as Geno Smith gets decent pass protection (which he mostly has) they can hang with anybody in the NFC. The defense is trending in the right direction — if that continues they’ll be a playoff team.
I really like what Brian Daboll is doing but it’s tough to keep winning these one-possession games.
Seahawks 27, Giants 24.
